Course Intention

The focus of the course content is first and foremost on creating cultural self-awareness.
The next intended purpose is on “the people you meet” as opposed to “the illnesses
you treat.” We do include health disparity data, but any health statistic that points
to differences in subpopulations is simply to highlight the disparities between groups.
The data and examples themselves are not intended to send messages concerning the
groups or causes for the differences. This phenomenon of unintended learning is known
as the hidden curriculum and it can serve to support a stereotype and create unfounded
judgments. We have, therefore, chosen to explicitly bring this to your attention throughout
the course so as not to undermine our stated purpose of building cultural competency.
You will learn more about stereotypes and bias over the next few weeks, but most importantly
you will begin to see how the influence of culture and perspective play a vital role
in your ability to communicate with others toward the common goal of better health.